Consumers prefer chatting with customer service bots for simple tasks, new research finds

89% of global consumers rate their overall perception of bots as "positive" or "neutral"

NEW YORK, May 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPSN), the leading provider of cloud mobile and online business messaging solutions, has released the results of new global consumer research that examines how consumers perceive bots in customer care. Some of the key findings are included below.

Consumer feedback suggests they are happy for bots to do simple tasks but want human help for more complex ones

Bots should have a friendly personality

To be considered "excellent," the ideal wait time for customer service is less than two minutes

Consumers are warming to bots, though 56% would prefer a human

"Being misunderstood" by bots is the largest fear for consumers

The usage of bots in customer care has gained momentum, as consumers continue to demand faster and better service. With more companies adopting bots in their customer care strategies to solve for this demand, LivePerson commissioned a survey of 5,000 global consumers to uncover consumer attitudes toward bots in customer care. The full report is available for download at http://info.liveperson.com/Bots-In-Customer-Care.html.

According to the research, less than two minutes is the ideal wait time for consumers, as 52% of global consumers would not be open to waiting more than two minutes to speak with a customer care agent and still rate the customer service as "excellent." Americans were among the most impatient, with 28% willing to wait a maximum of one minute and 25% selecting two minutes.

Given that fast service is a priority for consumers, an increasing number of large brands are implementing bots into their digital and customer care strategies, and our survey suggests that consumers are now more accepting of this. A majority of consumers have a positive or neutral perception of using a bot to communicate with a brand. Globally, 38% of consumers rate their overall perception of bots as positive, while 51% rate it as neutral. Only 11% of consumers globally reported a negative perception of bots. With a more accepting attitude toward bots, the previous perception that brands and companies use bots purely to cut costs is fading.

A higher number of consumers now perceive bots as there to help them get better and faster service versus earlier surveys we conducted. This is particularly true for millennials: More than half believe bots are there to give them faster and better service as opposed to simply being a cost-savings tool for the company.

While consumer perceptions on bots are warming, many remain skeptical. Just over half of the people surveyed globally (56%) would still rather speak with a human — even if they have to wait for a short period of time — than chat with a bot immediately. The reason for this, according to 60% of respondents, is because a human will understand what they need better than a bot. The risk of being misunderstood may be one concern, but some consumers, particularly those in Europe, report occasionally lying or exaggerating to a customer care agent to get what they want.

However, in a scenario where a bot is just as accurate as a human customer care agent, a majority of global consumers (55%) would prefer to chat with a bot over a human. According to our research, consumers trust bots for simple tasks, such as updating an address or confirming an account balance. Complex inquires, such as correcting a mistake on a bill, are tasks consumers would prefer a human to handle.

As brands implement bots into their digital and customer care strategies, many wonder if the bot should have a name or personality. Our research found that many customers, particularly in the US, don't care whether a bot has a personality or name, but consumers in other countries do. Close to half of respondents in Germany (45%), France (44%), and Japan (42%) believe customer service bots should have names and personalities. Of those respondents who would like a bot to have a personality or don't care, most would prefer the bot to have a friendly personality over a formal or humorous one.

"We're helping brands across industries and geographies integrate bots into their organizations through our LiveEngage for Bots platform, and we're continuing to see consumers shift to a more positive perception of bots as they experience the high-quality service that many bots offer, working alongside human customer care agents," said Rurik Bradbury, global head of communications and research at LivePerson. "This research is part of an ongoing effort to understand consumers' evolving perceptions of bots and provide our customers with insights and best practices for implementing bots within digital and customer care organizations."

This survey was commissioned by LivePerson and conducted online by independent research firm Survata, which interviewed 5,002 global consumers across six countries (US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, and Japan) ages 18 and older between April 7, 2017 and April 20, 2017. Respondents received no cash compensation for their participation. More information on methodology can be found at survata.com/methodology.

About LivePersonLivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN) is the leading provider of mobile and online messaging business solutions, enabling a meaningful connection between brands and consumers. LiveEngage, the Company's enterprise-class, cloud-based platform, empowers consumers to stop wasting time on hold with 1-800 numbers and, instead, message their favorite brands just as they do with friends and family. More than 18,000 businesses, including Adobe, Citibank, HSBC, EE, IBM, L'Oréal, PNC, and The Home Depot, rely on the unparalleled intelligence, security, and scalability of LiveEngage to reduce costs, increase lifetime value, and create meaningful connections with consumers. For more information, please visit www.liveperson.com. To view other global press releases about LivePerson, please visit pr.liveperson.com.

Safe Harbor ProvisionStatements in this press release regarding LivePerson that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. Any such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to financial guidance, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It is routine for our internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter and year progress, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations may change. Although these expectations may change, we are under no obligation to inform you if they do. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the projections or forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation: potential fluctuations in our quarterly revenue and operating results; competition in the market for digital engagement technology; our ability to retain existing clients and attract new clients; potential adverse impact due to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; privacy concerns relating to the Internet that could result in new legislation or negative public perception; risks related to new regulatory or other legal requirements that could materially impact our business; our ability to effectively operate on mobile devices; failures or security breaches in our services, those of our third party providers, or in the websites of our customers; risks related to industry-specific regulation and unfavorable industry-specific laws, regulations or interpretive positions; the adverse effect that the global economic downturn may have on our business and results of operations; economic conditions and regulatory changes caused by the United Kingdom's likely exit from the European Union; our ability to retain key personnel, attract new personnel and to manage staff attrition; risks related to the ability to successfully integrate past or potential future acquisitions; additional regulatory requirements, tax liabilities, currency exchange rate fluctuations and other risks as we expand internationally and/or as we expand into direct-to-consumer services; risks related to the regulation or possible misappropriation of personal information belonging to our customers' Internet users; potential failure to meeting service level commitments to certain customers; technology systems beyond our control and technology-related defects that could disrupt the LivePerson services; risks related to protecting our intellectual property rights or potential infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties; legal liability and/or negative publicity for the services provided to consumers via our technology platforms; errors, failures or "bugs" in our products may be difficult to correct; increased allowances for doubtful accounts as a result of an increasing amount of receivables due from customers with greater credit risk; payment-related risks; delays in our implementation cycles; impairments to goodwill that result in significant charges to earnings; risks associated with the recent volatility in the capital markets; our ability to secure additional financing to execute our business strategy; our ability to license necessary third party software for use in our products and services, and our ability to successfully integrate third party software; our ability to maintain our reputation; risks related to our recognition of revenue from subscriptions; our lengthy sales cycles; risks related to our operations in Israel, and the civil and political unrest in that region; changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States; risks associated with our current or any future stock repurchase programs, including whether such programs will enhance long-term stockholder value, and whether such stock repurchases could increase the volatility of the price of our common stock and diminish our cash reserves; natural catastrophic events and interruption to our business by man-made problems; the high volatility of our stock price; and risks related to our common stock being traded on more than one securities exchange. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Readers are referred to the reports and documents filed from time to time by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in forward-looking statements.